Southeast Asia Building – May-June 2018

(Jacob Rumans) #1

MAY-JUNE 2018 SEAB 51


ARCHITECTURE + INTERIOR

B


uildings in Southeast Asia are
getting taller and taller as engineers
find innovative ways to construct
taller buildings in a quicker way than
before. Technology has allowed engineers
and even architects to design and build
taller buildings which are not only visually
attractive but also sustainable and more
energy efficient.
According to the Council on Tall
Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), which
developed the international standards for
measuring and defining tall buildings, says
that “there is no absolute definition of what
constitutes a ‘tall building’; the definition
is subjective.” It is considered against
one or more of the following categories:
Height Relative to Context, Proportion and
Embracing Technologies Relevant to Tall
Buildings.


Height relative to context
A 14-storey building may not be considered
a tall building in a high-rise city such as
Chicago or Hong Kong, but in a provincial
European city or a suburb this may be
distinctly taller than the urban norm.


Proportion
There are numerous buildings that are not
particularly high, but are slender enough
to give the appearance of a tall building.
Conversely, there are numerous big/large-
footprint buildings that are quite high, but
their size/floor area rules them out of being
classed as a tall building.

Embracing technologies relevant to tall
buildings
There are numerous buildings that are not
particularly high, but are slender enough
to give the appearance of a tall building.
Conversely, there are numerous big/large-
footprint buildings that are quite high, but
their size/floor area rules them out of being
classed as a tall building.
If a building can be considered as
subjectively relevant to one or more of the
above categories, then it can be considered
a tall building.

Is the number of floors an indicator
of a tall building?
Although number of floors is a poor
indicator of defining a tall building due to

the changing floor to floor height between
differing buildings and functions (for
example, office versus residential usage),
a building of 14 or more storeys – or more
than 50 metres (165 feet) in height – could
typically be used as a threshold for a “tall
building.”
CTBUH added that tall buildings that
achieve great heights can be grouped
into supertall and megatall buildings. A
“supertall” is a tall building over 300 metres
(984 feet) in height, and a “megatall” is a
tall building over 600 metres (1,968 feet) in
height. As of today, there are 127 supertalls
and only three megatalls completed
globally.
The three megatall buildings are
Burj Khalifa in Dubai, UAE (Height of 828
metres and 163 floors); Shanghai Tower
in Shanghai, China (Height of 632 metres
and 128 floors); and Makkah Royal Clock
Tower in Mecca, Saudi Arabia (Height of
601 metres and 120 floors).
In this theme on Skyscrapers, we look
at some new and upcoming buildings
which are set to transform the skyline of
Southeast Asia by 2025.

Upcoming


in southeast asia


Skyscrapers

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